The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Run Balmoral just brilliant
Athletics: Devil of Deeside winner full of praise for race weekend
Lancashire athlete Molly Ralphson was singing the praises of the Run Balmoral race weekend after winning the toughest title on offer during the two-day meeting at the royal estate which attracted more than 5,500 competitors.
The Trawden AC runner won the women’s trophy in the Repsol Sinopec Devil of Deeside Challenge in which athletes had to race in the ConocoPhillips 5km and the Stena Drilling Tartan 10km on the first day before stepping up a gear to tackle the 27km Apollo duathlon followed by the Trac 15-mile trail race on day two.
Ralphson, 44, completed the test in a combined time of 4hr 53min 51sec while Nicolle Hamilton (Alyth) was runnerup in 5:05:33, Sam Rendall (Deeside Runners) finished third in 5:08:48 and the over-50 prize went to Ruth Mackenzie (Deeside Runners) in 5:24:17.
The 2017 winner, Aberdeen’s Kerry Prise, pulled out with an injury during the final race.
Ralphson said: “The first day here was quite hard for me as I don’t normally enjoy road racing, but I have to say the whole thing has been absolutely fantastic.
“The duathlon was my favourite race, because it’s good for me to have a biking stage, and I finished fourth overall in it and first in my age group.
“I felt strong on the trail race, finishing 16th, but I had absolutely no idea I had won the overall prize.
“It’s impossible to tell where you are in the Devil because you don’t know where everyone around you finished in the other races. It’s so cool to win but it was a big surprise.
“The whole Balmoral event was brilliant. There was such a great atmosphere and the children’s races were brilliant. It is so well organised, everything went like clockwork and, of course, the good weather helped. I’ll certainly be going back to my club to start shouting about it.”
Aberdeen’s Alan Semple retained the men’s title in 3:50:49 while Portobello’s Johnny Lawson was runner-up in 3:54:02 while Harry Smith, runner-up in 2017, took third spot in 3:57:39. Edinburgh’s Robert Watson won the over-50s title when placing fourth
“I had absolutely no idea I had won the overall prize”
overall in 3:59:47. Semple’s next big challenge comes in June when he tackles the Celtman at Torridon, one of Scotland’s toughest triathlon races, featuring a two mile loch swim, 125 miles of cycling and a mountainous 26-mile run.
Meanwhile, Julie Wilson (Inverness Harriers) earned a share of a British over-50s record when joining forces with Clare Barr (Motherwell AC), Fiona Matheson (Falkirk Victoria Harriers) and Yvonne Crilly (Lothian Running Club) to record 10:33 in a 4x800m relay.
The Scottish quartet’s time was just nine seconds outside the world record for the 4x800m, set by a US team at Wake Forest University, North Carolina in 2014.